Legislation for climate change adaptation has been recognized as inevitable
and necessary. However, how do we construct climate change adaptation law and
whether adaptation law challenges existing environmental law? Answers to these
questions are far from clear.
This article refers to the development of adaptation law of the regime of
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Adaptation
Policy Framework of UNDP, attempting to delineate the existing framework of
adaptation law and to shed lights for future legal discussion.
This article argues that, adaptation law has evolved into a new legal model
that is different from existing environmental law. The features of emerging adaptation
law include: 1.connecting global commonalty and local variation; 2.global
multilevel governance; 3.integrated to national development project; 4.learningoriented procedure; 5. the function of transformation and immigration. This article
then examines the Nation’s Adaptation Policy Framework of Taiwan published by
the Executive Yuan in 2012 and points out the disadvantage of it. Through the
analysis, this article hopes to generate more discussion and deliberation on climate
change adaptation law in the future.